Lost in the Bamboo Forest

When it comes to the news, where we choose or are guided to focus attention is critical as it determines what we know, how we think, feel and believe which powerfully shapes our view of the world. And don't think for an instant that the government's media arms are not aware of this. The United States, in particular, has used media propaganda to bend the hearts and minds of its people to their will for a long time now.

Being fully aware of this tactic, in turn, allows a higher perspective from which to filter information and news events the government deems most important for us to focus upon. In just about every case, there is something arguably much more newsworthy going on at the same time they'd rather we didn't know about.

In the aftermath of 911, an angry and frightened America was convinced an all-seeing big brother was necessary to fight mysterious evildoers "who don't like our freedoms." This meme easily allowed the passing of the US Patriot Act, the formation of the DHS, the TSA and unlimited spying of its own citizens by the NSA.

Something to think about

In the name of security, America had given up much of its freedoms originally guaranteed by the Constitution. It occurred so slowly though that it all seemed reasonable at first. Let's take a look at recent examples that appear to have distracted Americans from knowing about far greater issues the government wants to keep hidden.

GAY MARRIAGE & CONFEDERATE FLAGS

The government has successfully gotten the majority of the nation so emotionally worked up over these two manufactured events, that most cannot see the manipulation taking place. Since the Supreme Court's recent decision to allow same-sex couples to marry, the internet meme has become about rainbow flags and gay pride. Meanwhile, conservatives and Christians who see the decision as an affront to traditional family values, rage against their gay pride adversaries.

At the same time, the media wants to convince everyone the Confederate flag stands for racism and should be banned everywhere. Nevermind that the Civil War was actually fought over the southern states' desire to secede from the northern federal government's encroachment of their Constitutionally given sovereign rights. The same federal government which has grown even more monstrous today. As the media spins these memes to its advantage, neither group is able to see greater events that have much more impact on their lives unfolding right under their distracted noses.

CYPRUS SETS THE STAGE

After the Cyprus banking collapse, we wrote The Cyprus Banking Collapse & How It May Wipe Out Your Savings!I'm sure most Americans had no idea this even occurred, since the US media didn't deem it newsworthy enough to share with its people in any detail, though the rest of the world's media did. In a nutshell, a banking holiday was called, Cyprus banks closed down for weeks, customers were locked out of their accounts and ATM's stopped dispensing cash.

After the dust had settled, bail-in laws were announced, whereby the banks got to keep (steal) upwards of 50% of their customers' deposits to stabilize their system. It was obvious that this new rule was going to quickly become adopted by our banking system as well, which it recently was! This was the very reason our media didn't want you to know about it, since that would give you time to begin exiting the banking system and look for more viable alternatives in which to store your savings.

GREECE FALLS

We have been reporting on Greece's inevitable banking collapse and exit from the eurozone for some time now as it's one of the many canaries in the proverbial coal mine at the moment. Because it's playing out right now, we'll examine the tremendous influence it will have on our lives very shortly and perhaps why our government would rather distract you with rainbows and confederate flags.

This will not end well

Though Greece makes up a small part of the eurozone economy, it has been a troubled child from the very moment it was allowed to join. In essence, it was an insolvent country that needed hundreds of billions in loans just to stay afloat and pay its debts. It then required even larger investment loans to pay the interest on the new loans, while the original debts grew to "impossible to pay back" heights.

I know, you're probably thinking "what sucker would keep investing in a country that was destitute with no way of ever paying back the money it borrowed?!" Ah, great question, but unfortunately that sucker would be us! You see, investment loans to failed nations have become the hottest game in town for banks and hedge funds, who receive trillions of near zero percent interest money from the Federal Reserve and its sister European Central Bank to throw at these countries until they finally go bust for good.

These debts are then packaged and sold by the banks, hedge, mutual and bond funds as triple A-rated derivative investments, even though everyone knows they are anything but! This is the exact same criminal ponzi-scheme the banks created with bad real estate loans that were packaged and sold off as sound investments which led to the 2008 meltdown. The major difference now is this scheme is magnitudes bigger and it's estimated that there are over $1.5 quadrillion in failing derivatives that will eventually go bust!

The first bomb just went off!

It's highly important to know that most 401k, pension and related retirement vehicles also invest in some form of sovereign debt in order to keep this ponzi scheme afloat. Most people have no idea that the bulk of their retirement money is being thrown into this black hole, never to be seen again. This is why on Monday, June 29, 2015, all of the world's stock markets plunged, with banking stocks getting hammered even more so!

Getting back to Greece, their emergency negotiations with the eurozone creditors, who demanded the insolvent nation to continue making interest payments, broke down in the final week of June, setting the stage for an official default in July. And the chain reaction had begun!

As the weekend hit, panicked Grecian citizens by the thousands rushed to bank ATM's to draw out as much of their money they could. Sadly, it was too little too late as many ATM's ran out of money and capital controls were hastily hatched, allowing no more than $66 per day to be withdrawn. To add insult to this catastrophic injury, the government announced a banking holiday until July 6th, while they come up with a formula on how much of their citizens' money they need to steal.

What a bank run looks like

Despite this Greek tragedy unfolding in front of their eyes for so long, why didn't their citizens act until it was too late? I believe the answer to that comes down to the fact that when things occur slowly over time (boiling frog in pot syndrome), human nature causes most to complacently adapt and treat them as normal events. It is only when the heat is turned up suddenly will they scramble to exit the pot that is now burning them alive!

Deja vu, Cyprus for sure! And this should serve as a head's up warning for the rest of us, who still entrust the bulk of our savings and investments with banks, brokerage firms and retirement plans, even as the debt locomotive speeds towards us while we stand on the tracks, debating rainbows and racist flags.

Need another very telling sign of the soon to be out of control banking contagion that Greece has unleashed? Puerto Rico's Governor Says Island Debts 'Are Not Payable.'With over $72 billion in debt, Governor Padilla has admitted there is no way they can make any more payments without collapsing the entire state. As with Greece debt, American investors are heavily invested in Puerto Rican debt through mutual, bond and retirement account funds and don't even know it!

So when Puerto Rico refuses to make their debt payments in early July, expect the markets to once again react violently to the downside, while wreaking havoc on the US municipal bond market. Additionally, at the very least, we can expect other insolvent countries to ride the default momentum wave and refuse to make their debt payments as well. This list includes the so-called PIIGS nations of Portugal, Ireland, Italy, (Greece we know) and Spain.

These are not lifeboats!

The dominoes are going to start falling hard and fast and there is simply no way for the Fed, IMF or the ECB to paper over it this time! And at the risk of being redundant, yes, US and foreign banks, bond, mutual, retirement and hedge funds are heavily invested in those countries as well. When the default train plunges off the monetary cliff, everything goes up in smoke for good.

THE BIG RESET

While the game of monetary musical chairs plays out in the west, China has been quietly positioning themselves to unceremoniously dethrone the US dollar and make the yuan the new reserve currency for world trade. For well over a decade, China has been the number one importer of gold and silver in the world, while exporting none of the metals mined inside their borders. This has been done because they have known for years that the US dollar's days are numbered and in its death spiral as we speak.

Chinese Gold Price Fix by End of 2015.China is well aware that "he who owns the gold makes the rules," so are making sure they make the rules by now having the largest hoard of gold safely tucked away in their central bank vaults of any country in the world, including the US. In fact, they are planning to start their own gold fix trading platform by the end of this year, which will most likely replace the London fix, which has come under intense scrutiny for price manipulation and allegations it has no actual metal backing trades made through it. China has been very clear that their fix will be backed 100% by actual physical metals, a claim the London fix cannot make.

China's bold statement to the world!

When this occurs, expect to see the prices of both metals soar. JPMorgan, Citi, HSBC et al, who have been agents for the western central banks to suppress prices with unbacked paper short contracts, will no longer be able to as the fix moves to China's transparent physical trading platform. This will create true price discovery based on free market supply and demand. Know that supply is extremely limited, especially in physical silver, while demand is going to be tremendous.

To further distance themselves from the US dollar, China's Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has been met with overwhelming global enthusiasm as 57 nations have signed on to become founding members. This initiative will do trade in currencies other than the dollar or euro, with much of it in China's renminbi. Not coincidentally, the US warned all of its trade partners not to join the AIIB as it would clearly erode US dominance and give China too much power. Not a single nation listened and joined anyway.

You cannot get a clearer signal that the world no longer fears the US (other than Japan and Canada) and is jumping off the dollar ship before it sinks! To prove the soundness of their banking system, China is further preparing to announce their official gold holdings in the coming months, a figure that is estimated by gold experts to be between 5,000 - 20,000 or more metric tons, dwarfing the officially reported amounts the US claims to hold, but have refused to have audited for over forty years.

Who wins this currency war?

This anticipated announcement may signal the end of the dollar's reign of fiat dominance and crown China as the new undisputed reserve currency king. Either way, the writing is already on the wall. Those individuals who can read it and take decisive action will transition into the new gold and silver-backed monetary paradigm with great success, while the boiling frogs, distracted by the innane media propaganda of the moment, will be left with piles of worthless paper, wondering what went wrong?

In closing, it's important to remember that gold and silver have been trusted as money for over 5,000 years, while every would-be empire that attempted to replace the metals with fiat paper debt notes eventually fell to ruin because of it. Today's situation is no different than that which befell The Great Roman Empire that was thought to be 'too big to fail' in its day. Indeed, though the days may change, 'the song remains the same.'